§ 5. The tense distinctions of the participle. Like the tense distinctions of all the verbals, those of the participle are not absolute but relative.

Participle I Indefinite Active and Passive usually denotes an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb; depending on the tense-form of the finite verb it may refer to the present, past, or future.

When reading The Pickwick Papers, one can't help laughing.

When reading The Pickwick Papers, I couldn't help laughing.

When reading The Pickwick Papers, you will roar with laughter.

Sometimes Participle I Indefinite denotes .an action referring to no particular time.

The tower looming in the distance was built in the XVth century.

Башня, возвышающаяся вдали, была построена в XV веке.

Participle I Perfect Active and Passive denotes an action prior to the action expressed by the finite verb.

Having been up all night, they are in no mood for jokes.

Так как они не спали всю ночь, им было не до шуток.

Participle I Perfect is often rendered in Russian by деепричастие совершенного вида:

One day he came in having just received some letters...

Однажды он пришел, только что получив несколько писем...

It should be noted that a prior action is not always expressed by Participle I Perfect: with some verbs of sense perception and motion, such as to see, to hear, to come, to arrive, to seize, to look, to pass, to cross, to turn, to close, to open and some others. Participle I Indefinite is used even when priority is meant.

Arriving at home and going upstairs, we found that my guardian was out (Dickens)

Приехав домой и поднявшись наверх, мы обнаружили, что опекуна моего дома не было.

Hearing a footstep below he rose and went to the top of the

stairs. (Hardy)

Услышав шаги внизу, он встал и вышел на лестницу.

Participle II has no tense distinctions; it has only one form which can express both an action simultaneous with, and prior to, the action expressed by the finite verb; the latter case is more frequent.

A few rough logs, laid side by side, served for a bridge over the stream. (Irving)

Несколько грубых бревен, положенных рядом, служили мостиком через ручей.

I was reminded of a portrait seen in a gallery. (Du Maurier)

Мне вспомнился портрет, который я видела в картинной галерее.

In some cases Participle II denotes an action referring to no particular time.

He is a man loved and admired by everybody.

§ 6. The voice distinctions of the participle. Participle I of transitive verbs has special forms to denote the Active and the Passive voice.

When reading a good book I do not like to be disturbed.

Being written in pencil the letter was difficult to make out.

Having written some letters he went to post them.

Having been written long ago the letter was illegible.

Participle II of transitive verbs has a passive meaning, e. g. a broken glass, a caged bird. Participle II of intransitive verbs has no passive meaning; it is used only in compound tense-forms and has no independent function in the sentence unless it belongs to a verb which denotes passing into a new state, e. g. a withered flower, a faded leaf, a grown up boy, a retired officer.